Second Dialect Acquisition of North Korean Refugees in Seoul

The current study examines second dialect acquisition of North Korean refugees living in Seoul. A total of 14478 stops were measured from each of 22 Pyongyang North Korean standard (NK) and Seoul South Korean (SK) speakers. First, stops of NK and SK have been directly compared to each other by measuring VOT, F0, and H1-H2. In addition to providing acoustic analyses of stop production in NK and SK, effects of various sociolinguistic factors on stop production have been statistically investigated. Moreover, topic-based style shift and interlocutor effects on their production have examined. First, NK and SK stops were significantly different in terms of VOT and F0. The NK speakers still primarily rely on VOT as a cue to distinguish the stops, unlike the SK speakers. In addition, three different speech conditions significantly influenced the NKs’ stop production. Specifically, in reading nonce word task, the NK speakers produced more NK-like stops. However, in a conversation with a SK interviewer, they produced more SK-like stops. Acquisition of SK stops were also significantly related to sociolinguistic factors. Other than age of acquisition and length of residence in Seoul, Identification and Language attitudes were significant predictors in producing SK-like stops. The more they identified themselves as South Korean, the more they produced SK-like VOT patterns. Moreover, the more positive attitudes they expressed towards SK, the better they produced SK-like F0 patterns. Topic-based style shift of NK speakers was also uncovered. Topic itself did not influence the NKs’ stop shifting; however, topic x stance effects significantly affected their stop production. When they talked about North Korea negatively, they performed SK identity, by producing more SK-like stops. Finally, interlocutor effects were also significant. With the SK interviewer, they used clear speech strategy, by enhancing both VOT and F0 cue in stop production. In contrast, with the NK interviewer, their VOT and F0 were less differentiated, showing more casual stop production. This study highlights the process of acquiring new manner of stops in SK and predictors that influence better SK stop production, by providing speech data from more vulnerable and marginalized population in a society.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Oregon

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Jungah

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Idemaru, Kaori

• Korean phonetics
• Phonetics
• Second dialect Acquistion
• Sociolinguistics
• Sociophonetics

Statement dc:rights

• All Rights Reserved.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/27626

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarsbank.uoregon.edu%3A1794%2F27626